The present invention relates to tools for bending pipe, conduit or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved pipe bending tool for achieving the correct desired angle of bend.
Conduit bending tools generally comprise a handle having an arcuate bending anvil at an end. Conduit, pipe, or the like is bent as it is wrapped about an arcuate edge of the bending anvil. General, examples of such bending tools can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,196,610; 4,052,881; 3,906,778; and 3,590,617.
The bending tools of the prior art, however, have a heretofore unresolved problem. To achieve a desired degree of bend, conduit is partially wrapped around the arcuate anvil edge. The degree of bend achieved depends on the degree of wrap about the edge. Generally, pipe benders of the prior art rely on user judgment to indicate stop points during to achieve a desired degree of bend. Or, some tools may have visual markings along the anvil side indicating angles of bend. Relying on user judgment or on visual markings, however, offers only a limited accuracy of bend.
An improved conduit bending tool is therefore needed.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved bending tool that provides for greater accuracy in achieving bends of a desired degree.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a bending block for use with a bending tool for accurate bending.
The present invention comprises an improved bending tool for bending pipe, conduit, or the like. The present invention further comprises a bending block for attachment to an existing bending tool.
The bending tool is of the type generally having a handle and a bending anvil attached to an end of the handle, the anvil having an arcuate edge. The tool is operable to bend pipe, conduit or the like when pipe is wrapped about the bending anvil arcuate edge. The improvement comprises a bending block movable along the bending anvil arcuate edge. The block has locking means for removably locking it in place at a desired position along the anvil edge, and has a stop generally in line to the anvil edge surface for receiving a pipe. A preferred stop comprises a concave surface. A preferred embodiment of the bending block further comprises opposing side arms for movably engaging the anvil sides. At least one of the side arms has locking means for releasably engaging the anvil.
The bending block of the invention is operable to be locked in place at a desired position along the anvil arcuate edge, with the block""s stop for receiving the pipe or the like at a tangent to the anvil edge. As pipe or the like is wrapped around the anvil edge and thereby bent, the presence of the bending block prevents further bending. A precise angle of bend may thus be achieved.
The bending anvil may also have calibration marking along its edge side indicating degree of bend. A preferred bending block further comprises cooperating engaging means for releasably engaging the anvil calibration means. In a preferred embodiment, the anvil calibration means may comprise elongated ridges, while the block engaging means may comprise corresponding elongated slots for engaging the ridges.
The above brief description sets forth rather broadly the more important features of the present disclosure so that the detailed description that follows may be better understood, and so that the present contributions to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. In this respect, before explaining the several embodiments of the disclosure in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and the arrangements set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The present invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for description and not limitation.